Recent consumer research has established that with the shift from farm to urban living, particularly urban living in multiple dwellings, there has developed a basic consumer need to grow things. For example, a birdseye view of the roof tops and penthouses in most urban areas reveals that a green revolution is now underway.
This desire to care for plants is further intensified by the now recognized consumer need for the constructive use of unstructured time. The growing and caring for plants has been found to be an excellent substantive use of this unstructured time because it can be a rewarding and long term activity.
Unfortunately, there are no low cost containers available commercially today which adequately respond to these container needs. For example, the various planters, containers and the like which are available can generally be described as: (a) expensive, (b) ill-suited for germinating seeds, and growing plants and/or (c) are difficult to disassemble. Most containers available today are either small pots of ceramic or clay materials or expensive wooden planters which generally cannot be purchased unassembled, so they are difficult to move into most multiple dwellings. Furthermore, most of these containers are not water proof and require a separate tray to be placed under them to avoid leaking. Perhaps most important these containers have been designed with little consideration of the plant cultural practices required to obtain satisfactory results. That is, it is almost impossible to maintain balanced growth conditions with respect to water/gas transmission, and temperature control during germinating and/or growth with the planters available on the market today.
The transitory life style of many urban dwellers today requires that planters other than small pots generally be capable of being disassembled so they can be moved. Oftentimes the planters available today are either left behind or moved at great expense. Moreover, the failure to be able to breakdown planters restricts the opportunity to exercise routine root training which is often essential when growing perennials particularly trees and shrubs under planter conditions.
Perhaps, the single greatest drawback of the containers available for plant care today is their cost. That is, it has been established that up to 50 percent of the cost of typical redwood planters available in most garden centers today is attributed to the cost of assembly and shipping. These costs can be reduced significantly. For example, if the containers were sold in a knocked-down state to the consumer--shipping costs would be reduced significantly, particularly if the container components had various stacking features which could reduce volume requirements for shipping. The assembly costs could be avoided altogether by allowing the consumer to assemble the container. It has been found that in most instances the consumer who purchases containers for plant care would often times prefer to use their unstructured time to assemble the unit if given the opportunity, particularly if there is a cost savings involved.
Thus, while the roof top/deck/patio green revolution is well underway the market has yet to respond with a basic container which is low cost, adaptable to the consumer's life style and suitable for providing optimum plant care.